Monday With Rain and Yellow School Buses...

"Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned."
- Emily Dickinson

"The theory seems to be that so long as a man is a failure he is one of God's chillun, but that as soon as he has any luck he owes it to the Devil."
- Henry Louis Mencken

"Fortune, seeing that she could not make fools wise, has made them lucky."
- Michel De Montaigne

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Moody Monday ~ Peckish...

peck·ish (pksh)
adj.
1. Ill-tempered; irritable.
2. Somewhat hungry.
[From peck, to eat.]


"I was Feeling a Little Peckish..."
a slice would be nice.. a cupcake grand.. but I had soup straight from the can...
8 -16-2010
.. I really was feeling a little Peckish earlier
.. I was aggravated and irritated.. all around ill-tempered.. I was also hungry.. what to cook
just me here after all.. No need to wash pots.. so I cooked up this American Sentence Poem
and a can of my favorite vegetable soup.. I feel better already!!! In fact I feel well enough to write one more...


"Feeding Time Gone a Fowl"
Seeing that the hens felt a little peckish... I tossed them handfuls of feed.
8/16/2010

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Manic Monday #218

What are 5 things you want to do in your life?~ Wow.. do I only get to do five things.. I might have already gone over the limit.. I have done a lot of pretty interesting stuff already.. I have helped raise some kids.. Mine and his and theirs and hers and his..and maybe even yours... and they all turned out pretty good... But maybe you meant from now on.. five things.. I guess they should be important things too huh?? Nothing boring like finishing the book I left in the bathroom...?

1- write something others will enjoy reading... and publish it as a book... can't you imagine me prancing into the library to check out my own book..?
2- live so that others will miss me when I'm gone..
3- grow old but not feeble..
4- walk on the great wall of china... (or maybe when I am old and feeble.. my kids can stack up some blocks and fool me...)
5- see all of my children settled and happy.. and do my best to part of the solution and not part of the problem... This does require some tongue biting on my part.. I'll be stuttering any time now..

What are you saying goodbye to? ~ I have said goodbye to many things and many people over the years.. I am getting too old for the drama.. I am not interested in being the center of any ones attention and it is rather tiring that some folks need to be the most important all the time.. I would say goodbye to fancy clothes to but I don't own any.. I am saying goodbye to anger.. it doesn't hurt them.. forget it let it go.. they will reap what they sow.. as Daddy used to say.. "all in good time!"

What are you currently fascinated with? ~ I have got to tell you that I am not easily fascinated.. I am fascinated by words and rhymes and rhythms.. I am fascinated by the humming birds that hatched in my yard this year.. I am almost fascinated by Bonnie's belly.. which is about to drag the ground.. and I know I will be temporarily fascinated by the puppies.. Dave can still fascinate me as can each of my children in their own way.. I am also fascinated with Macro Photography and Geo-Caching... both involve looking close.. and both are new hobbies of mine.. I will always be fascinated by dreams and dolls and the waves striking the shore... simple things..

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Back to School Ramble~

Today was the first day of the school year for our little town.. the buses we saw this morning were carrying children to be educated and not the summer's migrant workers to the fields.. All over town there were young Moms silently.. ( well for the most part silently..) wiping tears as they fought the crowds on the way out of the school yard.. some hurrying to work as others went home to an empty house and wondered what they would do all day.. Even Emily came by here.. about to cry after taking Kirstin to school.. I laughed at them.. in a few weeks you will wonder aloud how you ever stood the little heathens.. week-ends they will make you will wish they were in school.. they are going to learn all of the terrible things that you have tried to protect them from.. they will learn words you do not understand... they will learn to read their own stories and they will learn to add up their own allowance.. and they will have the audacity to enjoy being away from you.. so I say start right away and use this time for your own self.. read a book.. clean your room.. clean their room.. dry your eyes and go get busy doing something that you have put off because the kids wouldn't enjoy it or maybe it was too exciting for a small child..
They will thrive and you will survive.. be proud.. you have just accomplished another step in the grand circle of life... Please keep a close eye out for the little ones that may be waiting on buses or walking along the roadways.. Be safe! Thanks for stopping by my blog tonight.. I welcome comments.. Have a great night!
Patsy

It's Tuesday!.... Do you know what it is?

"Our lives are like a candle in the wind."~ Carl Sandburg

"The weather-cock on the church spire, though made of iron, would soon be broken by the storm-wind if it ... did not understand the noble art of turning to every wind."
~ Heinrich Heine

"A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind"
~ John Neal

What IS IT??

Can you guess? Do you know? Have you ever seen one before? Do you know what I am? Someone knows. Someone can guess. Who will that someone be this week?
I almost bet that you have at the very least seen one of these... Some of you may have even touched one... I have! I love them. I have chosen the quotes on wind today because one of my favorite things is to see this blowing in the wind. If you know what this is or even if you just want to offer a guess.. Please leave a comment. Tomorrow I will tell you the answer with a comment of my own. It's fun to guess and you might get it right.. I will even give you a few hints..

1:) I have been around since the beginning of time.

2:) I come in a great range of different colors and sizes.

3:) I am used in the making of fabric and jewelry.

4:) I am also used in the drying of malt and hops over a furnace during the brewing of beer.

5:)Itzhak Perlman would be nowhere without me; as would Yo-Yo Ma.

6:) You will find me in both the country and city settings.

I'm sure that someone will take just one look and know what this is. I have been told that this is also quiet tasty but I have never eaten it.. I think it would be on my personal list of Non-food items. I am sure that someone out there will know what this is with just one look. You can never tell though... I hope everyone enjoys trying to figure out what this photo is.. Please comment with your own guess. I enjoy the guesses.. I love the comments. I will be looking at the world with a whole different "eye" from now on; as I attempt to find things to post on Tuesday Blogs. Look closely at the world around you.. Enjoy the wonderful world that God created for us to enjoy! So many things and such a great circle of life. Each thing however tiny holding a special place with uses unique to that one thing... It makes me feel very small when I think of the grandness of this world! Have a great day!
Patsy




Up Date~ It is indeed the mane of a horse. A couple of you got it right.. thanks to all who visited! I decided to add the new Photo since a horses mane looks like so many other things! Have a wonderful day!
Patsy

Thursday? Ok I'll give You Three!

"Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. But amusing? Never."
~Edna Ferber

"Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it my be."
~Edward Weston

"Do not quit. You see, the most constant state of an artist is uncertainty. You must face confusion, self-questioning, dilemma. Only amateurs are confident ... be prepared to live with the fear of failure all your art life."
~W. O. Mitchell

1:)~ Today is the Birthday of the Worlds Greatest Athlete~ Jim Thorpe!

Fast Facts

Full Name: James Francis Thorpe
Nickname(s): Wa-tho-huck, Bright Path, Jim

Date of Birth: May 28, 1887
Place of Birth: Prague, Oklahoma
Date of Death: March 28, 1953

Occupation: Football Player, Track and Field Athlete, Baseball Player
School: Haskell Indian School (Lawrence, Kansas) Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
Athletic Position: Halfback
Athletic Teams/Organizations: Cleveland Indians, Oorang Indiana, Rock Island Independents, New York Giants, Canton Bulldogs and Chicago Cardinals

• He won the gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon during the 1912 Olympic Games.

• Believe it or not, Thorpe once hit 3 home runs into 3 different states in the same game. During a semi-pro baseball game in a ballpark on the Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas border, he hit his first homer over the left field wall with the ball landing in Oklahoma, his second homer over the right field wall into Arkansas and his third homer of the game was an inside-the-park home run in center field, which was in Texas! (Even I have a hard time believing that story~ But we all know that everything on the Internet is true! right?)

*Thorpe's Olympic wins were jeopardized in 1913 when it became known that he played two semi-professional seasons of baseball. The Olympics Committee had strict rules about Olympians receiving money for participating in professional athletics. Thorpe, who stated he played for the love of the game and not the money, was put under the microscope. It was decided that his baseball experience made him a professional athlete. His name was removed from the record books and his gold medals were taken away. Thorpe's medals were finally restored to him posthumously in 1982. In addition, and most important to his family, his name was put back into the record books.

2:)~ A Haiku

Facing Yourself

staring eye to eye
from with in the looking glass
your reflection damns.

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
5-7-2009


3:)~ 5 Minute Recipe~

Omelet Roll-ups

Egg - 1
Milk - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt and pepper - a pinch
Grated cheese - 1 tablespoon
1 tortilla

• Mix egg, milk, salt and pepper. Heat a pan with the oil to medium-high. Then pour in the egg, and cook for about a minute.
• Place over the tortilla, and sprinkle on cheese

Wow how fast was that? Tasty too. Just what I needed for my late night supper. I could have added a slice of ham or some store bought bacon bits without adding any time or even chopped some things to add to the omelet with adding only a minute more.


Well there ya Go! Three for Thursday! I really did try the omelet roll ups and it was good. Of course I did have a egg fresh from my own chickens and I'm sure that anything I cooked with them would be tasty! Next time I will add some ham or a bit of Bacon bits too though. I also used a slice of pepper jack cheese because I love my food spicy! You could add whatever you like!
I hope you enjoyed your three for Thursday! I hope you have a wonderful Day!
Patsy

What is it Tuesday?

"He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled." ~ Plum

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”~ Mary Oliver

Today I am showing you a picture. Do you know what it is? I wonder who might recognize this blossom. I will even give you a few hints. If you know what this is please leave me a comment. Even if you don't know you could offer a guess.. I'm willing to bet that someone knows. Someone can guess.. Is that someone you?

As you can see from the photo, this is a bloom. It is growing in my bucket garden. It's a beauty. It gives off a very pungent smell as I brush against it while pulling grass for the chickens. Just from the bloom you would never guess that this is food. Yes, I eat it almost every day. I eat it on bread sometimes but most of the time I use it in other dishes. I am told that the blossom is quiet tasty but I have never eaten the blossom myself. This wonderful smelly bloom will turn to seeds in a few days. They will fall to the dirt and start new plants of this wonderful healthy food.

a few facts about this plant~

1:) Known as the stinking rose.

2:) matches well with beans, beef, beets, cabbage, chicken, eggplant, fish, lamb, lentils, mushrooms, pasta, pork, potatoes, rice, shellfish, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini

3:) can be used as an antiseptic

4:) Americans alone consume more than 250 million pounds of this food each year.

5:)It is said to be an aphrodisiac..

Have I given you enough hints? Can you guess what this is? Did you already know? Have you ever grown this easy to grow food? Maybe now that you have seen mine in bloom you will plant some for your self. I won't tell you today what it is but be sure to check the comments section tomorrow to see if your guess was right. I will post the answer tomorrow as a comment. Give it a try. Make a guess. Someone out there knows what this is! Have a great day!
Patsy

Pig in the Blanket Day!

"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade."
- Dale Carnegie, 1888 - 1955

"There is something wrong when you wait in line thirty minutes to get a hamburger that was cooked for ninety seconds an hour ago."
- Lewis Grizzard, 1946 - 1994

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."
- Julia Child, 1912 - 2004

"Please understand the reason why Chinese vegetables taste so good. It is simple. The Chinese do not cook them, they just threaten them!"
- Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, 1986

Today is pig in the blanket day. A day you can really sink your teeth into. First of all let me say that I don't know who decides what day is what or who names all the days. Some are silly to me. Some are very interesting even though it might be a day no one ever thought of celebrating before. I get an e-mail every morning telling me what day it is. After all I would hate for Bologna sandwich day to have passed me by with-out me knowing it now wouldn't I? I keep thinking that one of these early mornings I'll come in here and sit down to an e-mail that says "Hey Stupid~ Today is just another day.. Get a life and quit thinking every day is important!" So far that hasn't happened. So far, for the last few years, every day has been something or other day. So far each day has had either an important historical or maybe just a sentimental reason to be important.

When I opened my early morning " Today IS" e-mail this morning I was surprised and excited to see that today is Pig in the blanket day. I love to search and google and even image search every day to fully check out each days meaning. For any of you who are about to do that now.. let me give you fair warning... anything that comes up about a real pig.. delete that, don't even go look! It's scary! A pig in the blanket has very little to do with a real pig and it's only connection to a blanket is that Blanket means cover or covering. A pig in the blanket is a hot dog or sausage wrapped or covered in something and cooked.

First you should choose your pig. Some p[people do like sausages for their pigs. I personally prefer wieners. I like the cheap kind myself because I am going to need lots of them. Especially if one of the kids finds out I'm making them. I also want my pigs plump. You never hear of anyone butchering a skinny hog. So first thing on the ingredient list is fat cheap hot dogs and lots of them.

Next comes the blanket. The choices for covering your hot dogs is quiet a long list. Some people use those corn bread twists things that come in a can like biscuits. That's too much like a corn dog to me. If I want a corn dog I want it to come from the fair and be just out the grease hot when I get it... No corn meal in my blanket please. I ate what was called a pig in a blanket recently. It was a hot dog wrapped in a can biscuit then baked till the biscuit was done. They were served with chili and ketchup and mustard. They weren't bad.. The biscuit was to me a little over done, but all in all they were not too bad. Just like a hot dog in fact. I think if I wanted a hot dog; I'd just cook hot dogs.

I love pig in the blankets. My Husband loves them and my kids and Grandson love them too. I have loved them for years and tears and years. My Mama cooked the very first ones I ever ate a long long time ago when I was just a child. The recipe is simple. The ingredients are simple. The combination results in a great quick supper.

The shopping lists is short, fat cheap hot dogs . I usually get three of the eight packs. They reheat well so Dave can take any leftovers of these to work. Next on the list is bacon. Yes Bacon! My blanket is pig. get enough bacon so that each wiener can have it's own slice. Again I choose the low price bacon. The last ingredient is cheese. You can use the sliced cheese in a pinch or if you like it then you can use it without a pinch! I like block cheese for these. I usually even spring for Craft sharp cheddar for these. Sometimes I will do half of them with cheddar and half with Pepper jack. They are great either way. You will also need some plain wooden toothpicks.

To begin with you will want to split each hot dog down the middle but cut carefully so that you don't cut all the way through the skin on one side. You will need a sharp knife for this. This split is where we will be putting the cheese in just a minute. I have known people to put Ketchup and mustard here but I don't. I always use cheese. Once I have split all of my hot dogs, I usually do all the other steps to each pig in the blanket one at the time till I am done.

Now I put a tiny thin strip of my cheese into the split and then wrap each wiener in it's slice of bacon. I usually slice the cheese ahead and tuck it into the wiener tucking the first end of the bacon under the end of the strip of cheese. Next I wind the wiener in it's bacon blanket and when I get to the other end I stick a toothpick through the bacon and into the hot dog. I will say that the wrapping them in bacon takes the longest. I always marvel at the fact that mama used to make enough of these for ten of us. Even more when they had foster children there. I guess she must have liked us a lot to stand and make that many pig in the blankets. We all loved them we were all good eaters!

Once all your pigs are split, stuffed, wrapped, it's time to cook them. Lay them all on a flat baking pan. you will want some sides on the pan because bacon gives off grease. We don't want any oven fires on pig in the blanket day. I cook mine in the oven; on about 400 degrees. There are done when the bacon is done and the cheese is melted. I usually have a salad with my pigs or maybe if Mason is here I'll make macaroni and cheese as well.

All this talk about pigs in a blanket has made me hungry. I will be having some pig in the blankets with ketchup and a vegetable salad. I will think about Mama's Cooking while I eat too many of them. I will enjoy every bite I take.

Does some food take you back to your childhood. Does it take you back to a time when life was still simple? Back to a time when you still colored outside of the lines? Enjoy your food. Try new things. Maybe you will try a pig in the blanket. Maybe you will remember a food that you loved as a child and try it again. Have a memory supper. Have a great day!
Patsy

Happy Thanksgiving!

"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? "
~Erma Bombeck

"There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. "
~O. Henry

"Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seed time and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. "
~Ray Stannard Baker

Happy Thanksgiving! When I was a child Thanksgiving was when all the families came to our house. Daddy and the boys would be cooking a hog on a pit and The house would be filled to the brim on the night before Thanksgiving. Uncle RC and Aunt Martha always came to spend the night. She would sit around with Mama and talk and they would be knitting or crocheting some new pattern. Mama would put as many stitches in Aunt Martha's as she would her own because she had to keep on getting it straightened out for Aunt Martha. The men would be outside doing things to get the hog ready for the pit.

Daddy would have had Jimmy and Frank digging the pit by his specifications for the past two days . It had to be the right size to get all of the hog on at once. It had to be deep enough to keep the coals underneath close enough to cook but far enough away to cook slow. The wood would have been gathered from the woods. Fallen limbs and sticks first and then some small oak trees to get the good coals from. Now days most people use a barrel with a rack in it and a hole in the side to scoop coals but Daddy always had a fire going under the wash pot and would scoop his coals from around the fire. He would bend over then and scatter the coals under the pit with his flat shovel. The pit would have an opening on each end just for that purpose.

Trudy always helped Daddy make his mops. He would make a few and then use them all night to mop the meat as it cooked. I never knew exactly what was in his mop water. Salt and pepper and vinegar I think. We all had jobs to do. Each of us had something important that Daddy or mama assigned us. No one had to remind us either. We did our little jobs what ever they might be. All night Wednesday night we would be busy with getting everything ready for Thanksgiving. The boys stayed out in the yard with the men. I once was allowed to sit out there myself. I had to keep the fire going for a while. The men didn't talk about things that I thought were interesting. They talked about working and farming. Depending on what man had stopped by they might venture on over to hunting or fishing. I was always kinda glad when Daddy sent me back inside to help the ladies.

One Thanksgiving I have very fond memories of is the year that Grandma Black let me help her make the Lemon and Chocolate pies. She pretty much stood by and let me bake them. I even made the meringue. She would sometimes spend the night on Thanksgiving even too.. Falling asleep in the chair.. But most of the time she would have someone drive her home around midnight. She always brought pies for Thanksgiving dinner. Every once in a while she would also bring a cake that I always thought tasted like ants must taste. It was a spice and nut cake. Needless to say I hated that cake.

Mama, besides entertaining any Ladies that might be there, besides Aunt Martha, would also have a lot of stuff to do. Daddy made his own hash and Mama had to get all the stuff ready for it too. Daddy cooked the Hog Heads in the wash pot outside but Mama had to peal and cook all the potatoes and everything else that he would need to make his hash. She would also have to cook enough green beans and peas and dressing and rice and gravy, potato salad and candied yams and butter beans to feed Pharaohs army. Plus bake a turkey just in case someone would rather have turkey. Macaroni pie had to be cooked and peach cobbler. We didn't serve our guest any old box of dressing mix either. All the bread had to be baked, both biscuits and cornbread, celery had to be chopped and onions too. Eggs had to boiled and pealed for the potato salad and the plate after plate of deviled eggs. I can see those plates even now. White with a gold trim, hollowed out spaces where each egg nestled into it's own space. Cranberry sauce had glass dishes long and narrow to fit the can almost perfectly once it was sliced and spread out just so.

Daddy would have the meat covered with flattened boxes and every so often he turned and mopped the meat. I tried very hard to be out there when he turned everything. If he saw a small piece of skin or meat hanging, he would always offer you a sample. When the meat began to get close to done, we would all be out there trying to get a sample. Daddy would usually declare it done just after daylight. Then would begin the cutting up of the meat and the making of the hash and his special bar-b-cue sauce. Daddy always chose just one person to help by stirring what he put in the pot. Many of us think we know the recipe. Of all the sauces I have tasted, Tricia's comes the closest to Daddy's. Daddy used to say that we weren't holding our mouth right when we made it. I don't know what his secret was. I never ever saw him measure anything and I know he didn't have the recipe wrote down.

Thanksgiving Day our house and yard would fill up from early morning to late night. Mama and Daddy would cook breakfast for a crowd plus us and we were already a crowd. Grandma Morris would come not long after breakfast bring her Pound cake and fruit cake and tins with the best divinity fudge and chocolate fudge too. She would usually bring her knitting and I often wondered if Mama was glad that Grandma had arrived to take over the entertaining part of the Thanksgiving job that was my mama's. Uncle RC and Aunt Martha's grown children might come or Uncle Robert might come. Uncle Lewis , Aunt Christine and their family almost always came for Thanksgiving. It was a family feast. But it was a friendly feast too. People came and ate and sat around all over the house and yard enjoying the day. And enjoying the food. And I really believe enjoying the company. Aunt Lucy would always come. She always brought some food to add to the table. When I was very small I even remember one Thanksgiving that all of Daddy's family was there. We played football in the field and we had almost a whole team by ourselves. Uncle Royce and Uncle Bubba's kids made a team together but we beat them.

Thanksgiving Day has always been an important day to me. I loved it as a child. I once got married on Thanksgiving day, but that too has passed away. That was the first Thanksgiving we didn't have the family feast. Later I hated Thanksgiving day. I refused to celebrate it and would always cook spaghetti on that day. I would tell Dave we should go fishing. Just being contrary you see. My kids didn't care about Thanksgiving; They had friends to see and places to be. Last year Dave and I were busy getting me home from the hospital on Thanksgiving day. Thankful that I had survived. Grateful just to be back in out own bed. I am sure we ate something that day. Morphine has made me forget what though. Tomorrow I plan to cook a turkey, and dressing with Giblet gravy. Green bean casserole, candied yams, and maybe even in the spirit of old days, a peach cobbler. I have a regular feast planned out. I know Dave and I will enjoy it. Who knows I might even get him to play me a game of tag football.. But tomorrow I will be celebrating Thanksgiving. For I do indeed have a lot to be Thankful for. Have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving.
Patsy

Picnicking!

“No, it is not only our fate but our business to lose innocence, and once we have lost that, it is futile to attempt a picnic in Eden."
~Elizabeth Bowen~





“We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics."
~Bill Vaughn~






“If the rain spoils our picnic, but saves a farmer's crop, who are we to say it shouldn't rain?"
~Tom Barrett~






June eighteenth, was Picnic Day! The last few days have been no picnic here. Yesterday was one of those aggravating; never ending; everything that can annoy you, will days. The day before was as well. I know you have had those days. We all do. I don't mind them every so often.. I do mind when I have a week of them all shoved together. What I should have done yesterday was hopped into my car and drove to the beach and sat there and had myself a personal picnic.







I have always loved to go on a Picnic. When we were small children, Daddy and Mama would load all of us kids into Their Falcon and off we would head for a picnic and fun at Hampton Park; In Charleston South Carolina. Many times Our Grandmothers would go along for the fun day as well. We would drive the couple of hours down to Charleston packed into the car and arrive just about time for lunch. Often times Grandma Morris would drive her own car and allow Jimmy and Frank to ride with her. Those times were even better because she aside from giving us more room in Daddy's little car also would bring a fresh Baked Pound cake.





Daddy would pick out a couple of picnic tables. Usually having to carry one; with the boys all on one end and him on the other; a few yards to put two together for all of us to have room. Then Mama and the two Grandma's would put on the table cloths while Daddy and the boys carried the boxes of food and coolers of drink from the cars. My grandma always said a table wasn't set without a cloth. The rest of us would watch the squirrels as they gathered around waiting for someone to offer them a bite of what ever you had. They were so tame that Jimmy a few times could get one to take food from his hand.





Once the tables were set with paper plates and Big cups of Tea or Cool-aid that Daddy had poured from jugs, that had made the trip shoved way down under the ice in the old cooler. We would all find a seat and Bow our heads for the blessing. Daddy would always ask a blessing on the food and thank God for the day that we had been given to enjoy together as a family.





Mama would serve Fried chicken and Big bowls of Potato salad. Bologna sandwiches with Mayo and mustard. Cookies and Potato chips. The food would be warm having made the long trip in the trunk of the car in a big cardboard box. You see, That was before the days when we were told not to eat Mayo or anything with mayo on picnics. But we would all stuff as much as we could hold in.. We would toss the bread crust to the million squirrels and pigeons that would gather around us hoping for a crumb. After we had finished every last bite and all the paper plates were carried to the big green cans nearby, we were ready for a walk over to the Zoo.



I do have to tell y'all that although we thought it was great when we were kids, That was about the most pitiful excuse for a zoo I have ever seen. They had lots and lots of Monkeys. And Not much else. They had a bear that only had three legs. He didn't get around much but he would eat a hot dog bun if you tossed him one. We would also hand them to the monkeys when they would stick their hand out through the Bars as you walked by. Mama almost always had a couple of bags of buns that we could give to the animals. They also had a few big cats but they were honestly too old to even roar. I especially remember a lion that had no teeth. I guess that by the time we discovered that wonderful Picnic spot it was sadly in it's last days. I was still a child when they closed the pitiful zoo. But we always enjoyed picnicking there. We would see the biggest cat fish and Bream as we walked to the zoo over curve backed bridges and we would laugh and laugh as the squirrels followed along chattering at us begging for hand-outs.
Grandma Morris would pose us in front of the fountains and on the bridges to make pictures of us with her old Brownie Hawk eye camera.

We would always end the Charleston day with a trip to the museum. It too was in bad shape and was later moved to become part of the State museum in Columbia. But we loved those days. When all of us along with our parents and Grand-ma's would spend time together.

When my own children were born I carried them on Picnics to the beach or even if times were tight just to the local state park. I would carry all the "Safe" foods packed in ice with no mayo, no eggs. But I always carried plenty of food and plenty of drinks shoved down into ice so that they would be icy to drink. I always bake a pound cake the day before. I still carry a table cloth on my picnics. I still Bless my picnic food in the same way that my Dad did. Thanking God for the time we spend together as family. Asking that we enjoy that day. Last year I even went on a Picnic with my son and his Family in New Mexico. It too was a wonderful day. They had almost all the same things that I had carried when My son was younger on our Picnics. I hope that some of that wonder will remain with him and even with his children as they grow older.

When I couldn't remember the name of the Park where we went as kids I asked My oldest brother.. He couldn't remember either the name but he did remember the park. He remembered things like the cannons and some other Military type things that I had forgotten about until he mentioned them.He remembered what impressed him. I was of course impressed by different things because I'm younger than him and just have different interests. My Mom did know the name of the park. She remembered mostly the beautiful fountains that were there. I remembered those too because even to this day I love the sound of a fountain.


If you get a chance go on a picnic with a child. Choose a place with something that will capture that child's interest and create a memory that will move on with them. Bless that picnic with prayer if that is your way. But just for a time leave the world's worries behind and enjoy a day with family or with a special friend. And remember that a Table cloth adds a special something. Even to a picnic table.
Have a wonderful day!
Patsy

Animal Parade!

The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too.
~ Samuel Butler~


Money will buy a pretty good dog but it won't buy the wag of his tail.
~ Josh Billings ~


Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. ~Mark Twain ~


My first was Diablo. He had short brown hair and deep brown eyes. He had very short legs But he was perfect for me. I loved him with all of my six year old heart. He was my best friend for a few years. I cried as I searched for him one Cold November Afternoon. He was missing. I was certain My cousin took him because she didn't have one like him. I cried and searched till Daddy came home. Diablo was gone, Daddy had found him that morning on the back porch steps. Daddy took me out back near the chicken pens to show me where he had buried my friend. Daddy explained that Diablo was old But I didn't care. I said I didn't want another one! EVER! Daddy just laughed at me. He already knew what I would learn. Diablo was my first but he wouldn't be my last. I was an animal lover. I loved Dogs!


I have had many furry friends over the years. I think they are like people in a way. Some impress you more than others. Some you remember for a little while. Some you never forget. We all loved animals.
I was a country kid. That meant I lived outside of the Small town. My Daddy wasn't actually a farmer. My Uncles had farms growing hay and corn and soy beans. They had mules and tractors and Combines. My Daddy just grew food crops. Tomatoes, peas, some corn, String beans, Butter beans, cabbage and Okra. Daddy grew what we ate. That included some of our meat. That meat came from animals.


Daddy never let us name any animal that we might eat. We could name the Hens and Daddy had one old Rooster for years and years. He called the old Rooster Captain. Young Roosters were for the soup pot they were all known as pullets. My Sister named a pig once. We all loved that pig. When it came time to Butcher that year we all cried and begged and pleaded. We hated bacon, we didn't want any sausage that year. We weren't going to eat Madam no matter what Daddy said. Even Mama shed some tears. Daddy called uncle Oneal to come and get Madam. I am sure that he butchered her and ate her. My daddy was upset over the whole ordeal. That night he made the no naming food rule. But that was also the first time we were allowed pets. An animal of our own.


We still couldn't have just any animal. No snakes or Big lizards were going in Mama's house. Mice and rats were also out. No wild animals. Grandma swore they all had rabies and we ate rabbits and squirrels so they were already part of the food rule. We already had some cats around even though they were all half wild. I only recall two of them that ever had real names. They were "Old Black Mama," Called that because she was solid black and the mother or grandmother to every other cat there; And Tinkerbell. I found Tinkerbell after she was abandoned by Old black mama. She was half starved and I fed her milk with an eye dropper till she was old enough to eat on her own. She would purr and rub against me. Grandma said she thought I was her Mother. I liked her all right. I just wasn't really a cat person. I Still had Diablo then. I was a dog lover. I had already made my choice as to what would be my pets.


After Diablo came Dave and Bruno, Sugar and Lucky, Lady and Mister. We had Daisy and Doll, Doobie and Shadow. There was Red and Blackie and Brownie and Twitch. We had Piggy and Spanky and Sissy and once we even had one called Pot head. Not because she smoked pot, but because she had showed up at our house nearly starved to death with an old pot stuck on her head. Jimmy freed her from the pot and fed her and she stayed. We had lots of dogs that just showed up there. Daddy said the town folks dropped their unwanted dogs off in front of our house. He always said we weren't keeping any more but he always fed who ever was there at feeding time. Somehow we always had at least one extra dog.


After I was grown I had a parade of animals. We had horses and ponies and spiders and hamsters. We once even had a snake. We had lizards and gerbils and turtles. We had fish ... so many fish. I still have thirteen ponds full of Koi and gold fish and frogs. We have a blue million frogs. We have had rabbits and squirrels and ducks and chickens. We have had a few cats. But mostly we have had dogs. We have had all kinds of dogs. We have had purebreds and mixes and just plain mutts. We have had barkers and growlers and one that people swore could talk. We have had big dogs and little dogs and Middle sized dogs too. I loved them all. I love them too much. I want them all. I once had, including puppies, thirty-two dogs. Dave said they had to go. He was nice about it. We couldn't afford all those dogs. I got to choose their homes. I wasn't very happy about it, But he was right That was too many and they had to go.


Since then we only keep four or five dogs at the time. Usually having three outside and one inside dog. Last year was rough for us and our dogs. We had had all of them for a good while. Max was 14 years old, Hot-dog was 25 years old and Piglet was 4 years old. They all died. We think a car hit Piglet but the others ate tainted food. My heart was broken. That left only Buddy outside and Cocoa inside. Cocoa fussed and whined for days until finally we let her go out with Buddy. She refused to come back inside. Colt was brought to us by a friend to replace Hot-dog. He is crazy but he's lovable. Since Cocoa had decided she was a yard dog we had decided that we wouldn't get another inside dog. Then we met Little Man.


We debated it. Since all the children are grown and gone we could go places and do things. Not if you own an inside dog. They have to be let in and out and washed and brushed. They have to be petted and fed and played with. Outside dogs need the same things but inside dogs are different. You can leave outside dogs for a short time. Inside dogs are harder to leave. But< I argued he is so tiny and he won't get bigger and he fits in a coffee cup. We can take him with us! And we did! He'd sit on the console between the seats in Dave's truck or on the front seat with me in my car. He loved to go visiting and even went all the way to Tennessee with us to visit Dave's Aunt Ruth. We fell hard and fast for that tiny dog. He became Dave's friend. Dave's dog! I'd catch Dave talking to him when he thought no one was listening. He followed Dave everywhere he went. Until last week. Last week Little Man wouldn't come when we called him. He was no where to be found. I thought someone had stolen him. I searched till bedtime but couldn't find him anywhere.Dave found him the next day out near the trash cans curled up in a ball. At first he said he thought, (I feel hoped is a better word for here), that Little Man was asleep. He was not asleep. Our tiny dog had died. Our friend was gone.


Dave buried him out where all the others are. Hot dog and Max; Trigger, Boo and Smokey. All our animal friends who enriched our lives. Some for years and some for only short times. We agreed that we will rest for a while. Dave said he didn't want another inside dog right now. I agreed. I washed and cleaned his dishes and toys. I packed everything inside his kennel box and put it away. I had just carried it all out to the shed when Dave called from work. He had found out about some new puppies. They are tiny tea cup Chihuahua's just like Little Man. I reminded him that we are resting.We are he agreed. He just thought we should know where we can get one. Just in case he said. I figure that we will rest about five more weeks. By then the babies will be old enough to take from their mama and we will have rested from having an inside dog for about as long as we can. We are animal lovers. We are dog people.


Not everyone is an animal lover. If you aren't then admit it and don't have pets. There is no shame in not being an animal lover as long as you don't harm them. If you love animals but can't keep one, there are plenty out there in shelters who are looking for homes but need to eat Every day! Help them if you can. Remember to help control the strays by having your pets spayed or neutered if you can't or don't want to raise puppies. Train your animal to be a part of your family But never forget that they are an animal. Love them, Laugh at them, and enjoy them for how ever long they remain with you. We are resting, But only for a few weeks. We can't help it. We are Dog people! Be kind to animals! Have a wonderful Doggy Day!
Patsy